Changeling
Changelings are a player race in the 3rd and 4th editions of Dungeons & Dragons. They are an exclusive race to the Eberron campaign setting being first featured in the Eberron Campaign Setting book in 2004. Changelings are a humanoid race who are distantly descended from doppelgangers and share their shapeshifting qualities. Their shapeshifting has led to them being used as spies and assassins which has in turn led to them being mistrusted amongst the people of Khorvaire. "Anyone, anywhere, hidden in plain sight". Racial Abilities 3.5 * +2 racial bonus to saving throws against sleep and charm effects. * +2 racial bonus to bluff, intimidate and sense motive checks. * Natural linguist: Changelings add speak language to their list of class skills for any class they adopt. * Minor changeshape (Su): Changelings have the ability to alter their appearance as though using a disguise self spell, this does not affect their possessions. This is not an illusory effect but a minor physical alteration of features. The changeling can use this at will and lasts until they choose to change again or are killed in which case they revert to their natural form. A true seeing spell reveals their natural form. When in use this ability gives the changeling a +10 circumstance bonus to disguise checks. Using this ability is a full-round action. 4th edition Shapechanger: You are a shapechanger; you can alter your appearance. As such you are subject to effects and conditions that affect shapechangers. Mental Defense: '''You have a +1 racial bonus to Will. '''Changeling Disguise: '''Is an at-will power that allows the changeling character to transform their appearance to that of any other medium sized humanoid race. The character keeps their statistics in their new form and their apparel does not change. This transformation lasts until the changeling changes their appearance. '''Changeling Trick: '''Is an encounter power where you make a bluff check against the target's passive insight. If sucessful you gain combat advantage against the target until the end of your next turn. Personality Changelings are commonly harmless, passive people and are uninterested in politics and social affairs. Due to their capricious ways of life many people have come to distrust the changelings which has led to them becoming social recluses or more commonly has pushed them to create fake identities to escape persecution. Having no culture of their own the changeling slip into other's societies and blend in. Rather than creating their own art and achievements the Changeling are happy with claiming other societies' as their own. This nomadic lifestyle has led the changeling to become exceptionally adaptable people. Changeling will not simply shapeshift into a new person but rather create a new whole one. Most changeling will set up a handful of personas so if one is compromised they can disappear and switch to one of their others. Their personas that they create are incredibly realistic and have their own personality traits, backgrounds and network of friends. The changeling can be evasive and will often try to avoid confrontation or anything that will draw attention to themselves. Description Changelings can look like anyone at any given time though they do have a true form. Their natural look can be scary to some due to their lack of detail and distinctive features. Their skin tone is always pale, the darkest tone some have is a light grey. They have large white eyes but have no pupils and are circled by thick black rings. Their noses are small and subtle with no detail. The changeling's body structures are slender, even more so than elves and border on being frail. Their hair colour is most commonly a light shade of silver followed by platinum and blonde. In rarer cases their hair can be pale shades of green, pink and blue. Also similar to elves the changeling lack body and facial hair. Lifespan Changelings reach maturity at 15 and live as long as humans do. Changelings in Eberron Changelings have long been persecuted by other races, seen at best as tricksters and con-artists, at worst as thieves and assassins. Many people find it hard to trust changelings, and while their talents make them natural spies and criminals, in reality a changeling is just as likely as any creature to turn to good or evil. Some changelings work hard to remove this stigma, but each time a changeling is caught robbing from a wealthy merchant or sneaking about where they are not welcome, it only perpetuates the stereotype. Virtually all changelings take up one of three philosophical beliefs when it comes to their mutable forms and these philosophies guide many aspects of a changeling's day to day life. '''Passers are changelings who wish to fit in with conventional society and live life in only one form or at the least suppress their shape changing abilities to better fit in with those around them. Other changelings will often view passers with contempt and use slang words such as "pretender" or "actor" to mock them. Becomers believe that to be a changeling is to possess many different shapes and often different identities and lives altogether. A becomer takes the concept of a dual life to a whole new degree and some will successfully live as several "different people" for many years. Seekers or "reality seekers" are convinced that a great truth exists which only the changelings can discover; they suppress their shapechanging abilities even more than passers and prefer to live or socialize with other changelings. Changelings do not manifest dragonmarks. Changeling Names All changeling names are unisex and are very short usually one syllable. Example Names: Bin, Dox, Fie, Hars, Jin, Lam, Nit, Ot, Paik, Ruz, Sim, Toox, Yog. History After many years of interbreeding between humans and dopplegangers led to the birth of the first changelings. During the Last War the changeling were often employed as spies and assassins which reinforced the stigma they receive in the present day. Religion Many changeling revere The Traveler of the Dark six whilst others seek out their own philosiphies. However, there are many changeling who worship a religion simply to make their disguise more realistic. Notable Changeling Fandom Warning: the following isn't suitable for all readers. A joke amongst fans is that due to the changelings' ability to change their looks and sex to suit the situation is that most female changeling adult entertainers, escorts and prostitutes are secretly men. References Category:Races Category:Humanoids